1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to saddle-type electric vehicle, such as a two-wheeled electric motorcycle. More particularly, the present invention relates to saddle-type electric vehicle in which a drive assembly, including an electric motor and battery for an electric motorcycle, are compactly and efficiently arranged on a frame of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are a number of known saddle-type electric vehicles, including a vehicle having a drive motor unit fixedly supported under a main frame section extending rearwardly from a head pipe of a vehicle frame, and a drive battery disposed below the drive motor unit (see, for example, Japanese published Patent Document JP-A 2000-038183). In the vehicle of the referenced publication, a drive motor unit includes a motor body, mounted in its front portion, and a transmission (driven element) extending toward the rear of the motor body. Also in the vehicle of this referenced publication, a rear end of the transmission is located forward of a pivot connection of a rear swing arm.
In the above-described known structure, because the drive battery is placed in a lower portion of the vehicle body, there is a limited amount of installation space available for the battery. Therefore, a need exists for an electric saddle-type vehicle with increased space provided on the frame for permitting installation of a battery on the frame, for the purpose of increasing the mileage.